are sustainable cities the future? current examples of environmentally friendly sustainable cities
what are sustainable cities?
Sustainable cities are the new future of city planning that is getting traction worldwide, but what exactly do sustainable cities mean and what are their main characteristics? We will be going to discuss this now:
This term refers to a city model that focuses on its sustainability, reducing at a maximum its carbon footprint and environmental impact. The main objective of this city model is not only to promote a lifestyle that aims to preserve our world, and reduce our negative environmental impact but also to create a model where the city can sustain itself with the natural resources it possesses, without damaging them and preserving them for the long term.
Overall, these types of cities are very innovative and quite ambitious, but their future prospects are something that has to be discussed, and we will do just that next, so stay tuned.
are sustainable cities the future?
Sustainable cities are the future of sustainability and environmentally friendly, carbon-free societies; but, how likely are they to become widespread? Are sustainable cities really the future?
Well, we have good news for you, and especially for our society and planet as a whole, that is because it is predicted that sustainable cities are going to be on the rise within the next decades, together with the prediction that 70% of the population will live in cities makes the idea of achieving an environmentally friendly, carbon-neutral society a lot easier to grasp.
Not only that but as our society becomes more conscious about the consequences that their actions have on our world, learning that either by common sense or by living those consequences first-hand (we hope the last one won’t happen, again), people and cities are going to begin treating the issue with the seriousness that it needs to be treated with, which is something that is already happening in one way or another in different parts of our world, fortunately.
Overall, yes, this new model of society does have good future prospects, fortunately, and it is already being implemented in some of the cities of our world, as we are going to see next.
what are some current examples of sustainable cities?
Now that we have told you about the future prospects of this new revolutionary method of society, we said that we are going to present you with already existing real-life examples that are close to the model that we are promoting. So, here we go.
We can name many examples in our world that suit in one way or another these criteria, to name a few countries: Zürich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin… But we are going to focus on one that is considered by many surprising American examples.
We are talking about San Francisco, a city that is leading the sustainable city initiative in the US. What does this city do that it’s so special? well, it has a zero-waste program made to divert all of the waste from reaching landfills, it already recycles almost 80% of its municipal waste, which is crazy. Not only that, but the city has also banned some plastic products and is leading the way in environmentally friendly buildings, air quality, transportation, land use, reducing carbon emissions…
We could go into more depth into this subject but you already have an idea of what cities around the world are doing in order to exist sustainably, which is a great thing considering that more and more places are following this model.
how to help my city become sustainable?
Now that you know some real-life examples of sustainable cities, you may find that your own city where you live doesn’t seem to even care about environmental issues. We know the struggle, and we have some tips that will help you change that today. Having said this, here are 5 ways you can make your city sustainable:
- Contact authorities, email, call or speak personally to the mayor of the city, or any other person competent in the administrative process. You can also speak to people that know people that know people that know people… if you know what we are saying. Demand changes in the city’s planning and why they have to be done, remember to speak about the benefits that this will bring to the city and ultimately the mayor, as the person in charge is probably motivated by selfish goals, which with the right incentives does not have to be a bad thing.
- Raise signatures, and start a petition, you can do so online or either in person. Speak about why the city’s planning needs to change and why that will benefit the community, again, most people will be motivated by selfish goals, which doesn’t have to be bad, just tell them why the changes that you propose will benefit them particularly apart from benefitting the environment, which for many people sadly is not a good enough reason to act.
- Spread awareness in the community, like in the last point, a great thing you can do to change your city for the better is to spread awareness in the community, you can do so by speaking about these problems with your friends and family, but also with people in the street if you are brave enough. If your city has any type of social media or online presence, then you can do this more easily online without having to partake in the terrifying task of talking to people in real life.
- Predicate with the example, start by doing changes yourself, begin changing your habits for a sustainable lifestyle, give an example to everyone on how to recycle, how to eat more sustainably, how changing your terrible fashion habits can save the planet from the inevitable doom that it’s destined because of the selfish actions of our species and the terrible Fast Fashion business that is currently destroying our world day by day, how using public transport can save you money and reduce your carbon footprint, etc.
- Change your city yourself, the most effective yet nerve-wracking and difficult way of turning your city into one of those sustainable cities models is to run for mayor yourself. It may seem like a completely impossible task to do, but have you ever really considered it? Investigate the problems that affect your community and start offering ways to solve them, if you find a good party that will take you in, you can get really far, who knows, you might be the new revolutionary mayor that everyone will be talking about in the news, you just have to try.
These were 5 of the best ways to make your city become one of those sustainable cities that we have talked about in this article, the only thing we missed telling you is to start doing some of these. If you want to learn how else you can have a positive impact on this world and also earn a green profit, then check out Can Sustainable Investing Change The World?
summary
We hope you have learned a lot today about sustainable cities and what they are, if you want to learn more about slow fashion and the problem with the fashion industry, or other environmental-related content, be sure to check out the links below or just check out our blog, where we have tons of different articles like this that you will enjoy 🙂
We are thrilled to teach people all around the world 🙂 Also, did you really know what Fast Fashion really is and its terrible consequences for the environment, the planet, the workers, society, and the economy? Do you know exactly what the Slow Fashion or Sustainable Fashion movement is? You should really take a look at these articles about this forgotten and unknown but very urgent and important subject, click here to read „Can Fashion Ever Be Sustainable?”, Sustainable Fashion, Ethical Fashion, Slow Fashion or Fast Fashion 101 | How It’s Destroying Our Planet because knowledge is one of the most powerful strengths you can have, while ignorance is your worst weakness.
We also have a big surprise for you! Because we want to give you the right to know us better, we have prepared a carefully dedicated About Us page where we will tell you who we are, what our mission is, what we do, a closer look at our team, and many more things! Do not miss this opportunity and click here to check it out. Also, we invite you to take a look at our Pinterest, where we will pin everyday sustainable fashion-related content, clothing designs, and other things that you will surely love!
